Actually it is difficult for me to keep straight exactly which thing in John 1 is Jesus. What John chapter 1 directly says is that Jesus is either the life or the light, not the Word. As someone who has made the same mistake I empathize and don't think you should feel embarrassed; but you are mistaken badly. I used to hear people saying this all the time and so didn't check it myself at first. It never says Jesus is the Word, and this matters every time Jesus mentions 'Light' in John such as in chapter 3. Light is at the time of John's writing thought to be a tiny copy of the thing being seen which then makes an impression upon the eye, somewhat like a seal makes an impression into wax. They do not have a concept of light as we are taught that it is merely energy packets. So the implication is that Jesus is a copy of the word or an exact representation but is not the Word itself. I don't care what the implications are for discussions about Trinity. That's what John literally says, and let the chips fall where they may.
I've no quarrel with you, nor with Jews, nor with any group that wish to follow Jesus or imitate the Jews or be children of Abraham. There is one lord, one faith, one baptism. We are competing in righteousness leading to peace and the victory of peace and love and happiness and the destruction of all sadness and death, and that is fine and dandy. I don't care who is the best, as long as we all get better and the world gets better. I also don't care if it takes a zillion years. Its a big mountain, and we have such tiny spoons with which to move it.
Prophecies can fail, and prophecy shall cease; however principles never change. If the Jews are more righteous than the Christians then God will favor them, and we will all be blessed only through them. It won't matter what our scriptures say. Our job is to make them jealous not to harass them into compliance with our views.
Best wishes for you to be right, but I don't think that is correct.
Why have you chosen to ignore Revelation 19:13, when it confirms John 1:1? lt says that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, and it is through the Word that creation takes place [Colossians 1:14-19].
There are other NT passages that confirm the belief in Jesus Christ as the Word of God.
John clarifies his own Gospel when he says, 'For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one'. [1 John 5:7]
This makes clear that the Father can be distinguished from the Son, and from the Holy Spirit. The distinction is not in essence but in location, as Ephesians 4:6 tells us: 'One God and Father of all, who
is above all, and through [amongst] all, and in you all'.
What you say about righteousness demonstrates a misunderstanding of the Gospel. The righteousness achieved by Jesus Christ in fulfilling the law can only be ours through faith in Him. Jesus did not tell people to follow a set of principles, he said, 'Follow me!'
By placing faith in Jesus Christ one receives the blessing of the Holy Spirit, the grace of God, which is also the righteousness of Christ. lt's the Holy Spirit that marks a person as being 'born again'.
You may, justifiably, ask why it is that people 'born again' of the Holy Spirit do not always bear witness to the righteousness within. The reason is that we are still living in the flesh, and the battle to walk by the Spirit, and not after the flesh, must be won. We are given the strength to do so, but we must also exhibit the will to do so.
Salvation is a process that begins with faith in Jesus as Saviour, but is not complete until the day of our resurrection (or rapture of the saints).
This is my understanding, and one l am happy to argue from scripture.
